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EA suspends SimCity marketing campaigns

P

PedroLumpy

Member
RibMan said:
It's safe to say that SimCity is giving an always-online future a bad rep.
Click to expand...

The train wreck may actually help us all in the long run. This seems pretty close to a worst case scenario for online only. If it ends up discouraging others from going in a similar route, well that would be nice.

If so, your sacrifice is appreciated.
 
M

Metalmurphy

Member
Kenak said:
So like, where is Metalmurphy downplaying this shit?
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My stance remains the same as always. Wether you consider it "downplaying" that's up to you.

I'm just not bothered by EA making this reboot an online game and throw a fit about it. Yes this is an online game, and not just a "always online DRM because LOL EA."

As for server issues on launch, it's terrible, but at least I don't act shocked as if I wasn't already expecting them. It happens in pretty much any online focused game.
 
P

Paches

Member
Metalmurphy said:
My stance remains the same as always. Wether you consider it "downplaying" that's up to you.

I'm just not bothered by EA making this reboot an online game and throw a fit about it. Yes this is an online game, and not just a "always online DRM because LOL EA."

As for server issues on launch, it's terrible, but at least I don't act shocked as if I wasn't already expecting them. It happens in pretty much any online focused game.
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That was acceptable 10 years ago with World of Warcraft. It is 2013 for crying out loud. Did they not know SimCity would be a popular game?
 
P

pahamrick

Member
AOC83 said:
Nope, they had it coming.
But maybe they learn something from this.
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Hah, nope didn't learn anything. I don't regret my purchase at all. Am I annoyed with the server problems? Yep, but I've got other things I can play until shit gets sorted.
 
M

Metalmurphy

Member
Paches-EJ- said:
That was acceptable 10 years ago with World of Warcraft. It is 2013 for crying out loud. Did they not know SimCity would be a popular game?
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Hey, I share the same feelings, but it happens every single time, not just 10 years ago. Happened with Diablo, happened with Tera, happened with Aion, happened with wtv. It will happen again too. Even with beta "stress" tests it happens.
 
T

TheGreyHulk

Member
yeah, server issues happen @ launch all the time... BUT Maxis and EA completely got it wrong in regards to the demand for this game. they really underestimated the demand for a pc franchise and whoever decided the server budget was WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY off.
 
S

SteveWinwood

Member
Metalmurphy said:
My stance remains the same as always. Wether you consider it "downplaying" that's up to you.

I'm just not bothered by EA making this reboot an online game and throw a fit about it. Yes this is an online game, and not just a "always online DRM because LOL EA."
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Please again, for my sake. Explain to me what was done in this game that couldn't have been offline. How could I not have two cities by myself and trade between them? How does that require me to be online?
 
M

Metalmurphy

Member
SteveWinwood said:
Please again, for my sake. Explain to me what was done in this game that couldn't have been offline. How could I not have two cities by myself and trade between them? How does that require me to be online?
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It could have been made offline, it would just be another game. They chose to do this one, and I have no problems with that. The core mechanics of the game are all handled with networking in mind. They could have also made the game onlnie and offline ofcourse, maybe even simulate stuff like trading with AI, nothing like that is impossible, but they would pretty much have to make 2 different games, only reusing the game assets.
 
P

PedroLumpy

Member
Considering everything they cut and sacrificed to make this an online game, it doesn't even come close to being a good trade off.

Metalmurphy said:
It could have been made offline, it would just be another game. They chose to do this one, and I have no problems with that. The core mechanics of the game are all handled with networking in mind. They could have also made the game onlnie and offline ofcourse, maybe even simulate stuff like trading with AI, nothing like that is impossible, but they would pretty much have to make 2 different games, only reusing the game assets.
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They definitely did decide to make a game, but that decision can still be held up to critique. With the benefit of hindsight, which game would you have preferred they make?
 
J

JABEE

Member
AOC83 said:
Nope, they had it coming.
But maybe they learn something from this.
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I'm not sure if I can blame people for that. Joe Consumer had no idea this wasn't going to work out of the gates. He only plays The Sims games.

Someone who reads Polygon or any of the other early positive reviews for a Sim City that never existed did not have it coming. It is the responsibility of businesses and the media to help consumers make informed decisions. My Uncle wouldn't understand what Always-Online even is. That person was duped by EA. Sim City's target market is those people.
 
G

grimshawish

Banned
This is not just DRM issues. The thing is that EA have tried to create a game around technologies that possibly do not exist or ae not feasible for the economics of gaming.

Can you run the sorts of servers to stop this cock up and profit AND pay for the development. If this is not the case then these sorts of always online models can not be sustainable.

Whoever at EA did not fully test this stuff should be on serious watch. Fact is this wouldn't be an issue if so much wasn't online.
 
I

iMax

Member
I'm starting to worry that the Mac version is going to be like the Wii U version of Aliens: Colonial Marines — in that it'll never actually come out...
 
S

storybook77

Member
Mrbob said:
Yeah Amazon put it back up for sale. Which is disappointing. Methinks EA gave them a call. At least there is a big warning message on the game page.
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I think Amazon just ran out of Limited Edition keys, since it is now the Standard version they are selling.
 
C

csquared587

Member
Metalmurphy said:
It could have been made offline, it would just be another game. They chose to do this one, and I have no problems with that. The core mechanics of the game are all handled with networking in mind. They could have also made the game onlnie and offline ofcourse, maybe even simulate stuff like trading with AI, nothing like that is impossible, but they would pretty much have to make 2 different games, only reusing the game assets.
Click to expand...

I think hes talking about how you can control all cities in a region and trade by yourself. No need for an ai trading system. Why not make that offline?
 
P

Partition

Banned
Metalmurphy said:
Hey, I share the same feelings, but it happens every single time, not just 10 years ago. Happened with Diablo, happened with Tera, happened with Aion, happened with wtv. It will happen again too. Even with beta "stress" tests it happens.
Click to expand...

Can you explain why they couldn't add an offline mode and just keep the servers for those who want multiplayer? Instead of you trying to convince everything that SimCity is suddenly an MMO.
 
E

Emitan

Member
S

SteveWinwood

Member
Metalmurphy said:
It could have been made offline, it would just be another game. They chose to do this one, and I have no problems with that. The core mechanics of the game are all handled with networking in mind. They could have also made the game onlnie and offline ofcourse, maybe even simulate stuff like trading with AI, nothing like that is impossible, but they would pretty much have to make 2 different games, only reusing the game assets.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't consider those things far enough apart to think they're 2 separate games.

I don't believe that Torchlight 2 online and off are two different games, and I don't see how those 2 things would be different enough from each other to consider them separate. Same with current sim city and an imaginary offline one.

I'm failing to see what specific features and mechanics were made with online networking in mind and how the game would be dramatically different enough without internet interacting with those features.
 
E

Effect

Member
JABEE said:
I'm not sure if I can blame people for that. Joe Consumer had no idea this wasn't going to work out of the gates. He only plays The Sims games.

Someone who reads Polygon or any of the other early positive reviews for a Sim City that never existed did not have it coming. It is the responsibility of businesses and the media to help consumers make informed decisions. My Uncle wouldn't understand what Always-Online even is. That person was duped by EA. Sim City's target market is those people.
Click to expand...

This is why I feel bad for those that bought the game. There are a LOT of people out there that just play the Sims and through that would have been willing to try out SimCity. Not knowing they were walking into this madness and are now stuck with a game they aren't play whenever they wanted to (even if they accepted the online nature of the game)
 
M

massoluk

Banned
Metalmurphy said:
It could have been made offline, it would just be another game. They chose to do this one, and I have no problems with that. The core mechanics of the game are all handled with networking in mind. They could have also made the game onlnie and offline ofcourse, maybe even simulate stuff like trading with AI, nothing like that is impossible, but they would pretty much have to make 2 different games, only reusing the game assets.
Click to expand...

We have these resource trading in SIM CITY 4. We have people dedicating entire cities as giant electrical generator, garbage dumping ground, utitities complex and attaching them to their megacity in Sim City 4. I seriously don't see why it has to be online only at all.
 
A

Absoludacrous

Member
Metalmurphy said:
It could have been made offline, it would just be another game. They chose to do this one, and I have no problems with that. The core mechanics of the game are all handled with networking in mind. They could have also made the game onlnie and offline ofcourse, maybe even simulate stuff like trading with AI, nothing like that is impossible, but they would pretty much have to make 2 different games, only reusing the game assets.
Click to expand...

This is a huge stretch to call them separate games, unless you count any game with multiplayer as 2 different games.
 
M

Metalmurphy

Member
PedroLumpy said:
They definitely did decide to make a game, but that decision can still be held up to critique. With the benefit of hindsight, which game would you have preferred they make?
Click to expand...

Ask me in a week or less when these server issues no longer get in the way of the game.

Absoludacrous said:
This is a huge stretch to call them separate games, unless you count any game with multiplayer as 2 different games.
Click to expand...

A reply like this means you don't really know how this new SimCity actually works.
 
C

Caesar III

Member
They suspended the marketing campaign? really? I don't think so LOL!

Just got this while reading throug the SC threads here:

simcitylolytkvh.png
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S

suddenlyissoon

Member
They will relaunch this game, mark my words. They'll call the current version the "founders version" and give us exclusive access to the heroes and villians set, maybe some extra DLC. A couple of months from now it will go back on sale and the marketing will start up again. They'll call that version by a different "tag name".
 
M

Metalmurphy

Member
Emitan said:
So you're going to defend the fact that people have to wait a week for a product they purchased to actually function? I see.
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When did I ever defend that?

SteveWinwood said:
Please explain to me feature by feature how it works then and how creating an offline mode would be more complex than shifting work load around.
Click to expand...

The core mechanics of the game are entangled with the servers. The base engine was made from scratch to support this. Having an offline mode would mean a completle rewrite of the engine. I didn't say it would be more complex though, why did you assume I did? It would probably be the exact opposite.
 
F

Freki

Member
Empty Space said:
How bad is this relative to the Diablo III launch? A lot of people bitched back then, but it wasn't that bad as somebody who'd play through a big MMO launch. Is this the same case here?
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For perspective:

I finished D3 on normal in the first 24h after launch. I was in Inferno ~70h after launch.

I played Simcitiy for a combined total of 2 hours (to be fair I took a vacation for D3 but I think my point stands).
 
E

Emitan

Member
P

peanutbutterlatte

Member
Congratulations EA, you've prevented thousands of illegal downloads by preventing thousands of legitimate sales (?)

I do hope Microsoft is shitting themselves right now.
 
Interfectum

Interfectum

Member
Metalmurphy said:
Hey, I share the same feelings, but it happens every single time, not just 10 years ago. Happened with Diablo, happened with Tera, happened with Aion, happened with wtv. It will happen again too. Even with beta "stress" tests it happens.
Click to expand...

So we should excuse it because these publishers keep making the same stupid mistakes over and over again?

You know what would've saved SimCity from being a PR catastrophe? An offline mode to dick around in while waiting for the servers to come back up. There, I just became a game designer.
 
A

Absoludacrous

Member
Metalmurphy said:
A reply like this means you don't really know how this new SimCity actually works.
Click to expand...

No, I know exactly how it works.

The changes people are describing are not some outlandish ideas. They've been basic game development ideas since the dawn of the multiplayer era.

The fact that they made this choice at the beginning of development and are now cut off at the knees by it is not my problem. I guess it's your problem, since you can't play it right now. And it's certainly their problem, since I'm not buying their game and so many people seem to be asking for refunds.
 
K

Karsticles

Member
Metalmurphy said:
Hey, I share the same feelings, but it happens every single time, not just 10 years ago. Happened with Diablo, happened with Tera, happened with Aion, happened with wtv. It will happen again too. Even with beta "stress" tests it happens.
Click to expand...
It's one thing to have servers go down because you're playing an MMO. It's another when it's because of DRM.
 
M

Metalmurphy

Member
Interfectum said:
So we should excuse it because these publishers keep making the same stupid mistakes over and over again?

You know what would've saved SimCity from being a PR catastrophe? An offline mode to dick around in while waiting for the servers to come back up. There, I just became a game designer.
Click to expand...

I just said "I share the same feelings" in that very same freaking post. Why do you assume that I think we should excuse it? I'm just saying i'm baffled why it does still happen, even after it happened time and time again and they even do stress tests to avoid it, and that knowing that I was already expecting it, I'm not however excusing it. sheesh

Karsticles said:
It's one thing to have servers go down because you're playing an MMO. It's another when it's because of DRM.
Click to expand...

And then there's posts like these...
 
K

KaYotiX

Banned
drewface said:
Can you explain why they couldn't add an offline mode and just keep the servers for those who want multiplayer? Instead of you trying to convince everything that SimCity is suddenly an MMO.
Click to expand...

Because the way they made THIS SimCity it is a MMO or variation of it.
 
G

gotee12

Member
Karsticles said:
It's one thing to have servers go down because you're playing an MMO. It's another when it's because of DRM.
Click to expand...

This is why I had no problems purchasing Guild Wars 2, but will not purchase SimCity until it hits <$10. (Yes, I can wait a year or more for that sale)
 
M

milsorgen

Banned
Metalmurphy said:
It could have been made offline, it would just be another game.
Click to expand...


No, it wouldn't of been a different game. It would of been SimCity. The online requirement effectively makes this a different game, a game that shouldn't of had the SC brand anywhere near it. If anything this should of been a Sims branded affair.
 
P

pahamrick

Member
Nice to see the witch hunt for folks who like / enjoy the game is still going strong. I mean, it's not like EA would have shuttered the franchise if it didn't sell.
 
E

Espada

Member
milsorgen said:
No, it wouldn't of been a different game. It would of been SimCity. The online requirement effectively makes this a different game, a game that shouldn't of had the SC brand anywhere near it. If anything this should of been a Sims branded affair.
Click to expand...

That would've been a preferable situation. Release a proper SimCity 5 as a true successor to 4, and release Sim City Online (this game) later on. Market it as an MMO and you're targeting various segments of the market with different kinds of product.
 
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